RUSTON, La. >> The Hawaii Rainbows banged out 14 hits yesterday, but only managed to turn them into five runs and lost the Western Athletic Conference baseball game to Louisiana Tech, 6-5, at J.C. Love Field. Bulldogs take bite
out of RainbowsStaff and wire reports
It's a tale that has been repeated often this season. The Rainbows get men on base, then fail to have someone deliver a key hit. Hawaii left 10 on the base paths yesterday.
"Today we swung the bats well, but it's just a struggle. It's not something we can accept, but it's no surprise," said Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso.
"We had way too many situations with guys in scoring position, but we have guys who get two strikes and if the opposing pitcher bounces a breaking ball up there, we don't have the poise and patience not to swing.
"That's giving in and not competing when everyone in the park knows they'll bounce a breaking ball up there."
The Rainbows grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second inning on the first two pitches they saw from Louisiana Tech starter Adam Kirkendall. Tim Montgomery lined the first one to right for a single, then toured the bases as Cortland Wilson belted the second pitch over the left-field fence for his second home run of the season.
The Bulldogs (16-21, 3-11 WAC) wasted little time getting even.
UH starter Sean Yamashita hit Bart Dugdale with a one-strike pitch, the first of three Bulldogs he would plunk in three-plus innings. Dan Preaus then found a two-strike pitch to his liking and deposited it over the left-field fence for a 2-2 tie.
The Rainbows regained the lead in the third, but missed a golden opportunity to do some serious damage.
Brent Cook and Gregg Omori singled. Cook came home on Montgomery's double down the right-field line. Wilson walked on four pitches to load the bases with one out.
Kirkendall escaped further trouble by striking out Chad Boudon swinging on an 0-2 pitch and fanning Brian Bock the same way on a 1-2 count.
Yamashita extricated himself from a one-out, bases-loaded situation in the bottom of the third after the Bulldogs had tied the score at 3, but faced just three batters in the fourth inning.
Cullen Simmons doubled to right-center field on a two-strike offering from the senior right-hander, who then hit Antonio Sabatini with a 1-2 pitch. On Brandon Haygood's sacrifice bunt, Cook threw the ball past first as Simmons scored.
Aaron Pribble replaced Yamashita at this point.
"Sean just didn't have it from the first pitch. Even when he was warming up, I went down to the bullpen because I saw a couple of things he was doing," said Trapasso.
"He was a little out of whack, didn't have any feel for the ball down in the zone. His fastball was up and his breaking ball was flat. Sean battled, but it was just a matter of time before they were going to get some runs, especially in this park."
Pribble was nicked for a sacrifice fly by Wade Robinson that scored Sabatini, and Haygood came home on Nick Cauley's infield hit. But after that the Bulldogs did not get a runner past second base in the final five innings.
Hawaii cut its deficit to 6-5 in the fifth on Scooter Martines' single and walks to Montgomery and Wilson, which ended Kirkendall's mound stint. But the runs were a gift, scoring on wild pitches by reliever Chris Cowles. He did end the inning by striking out Boudon swinging on a 2-2 pitch and getting Bock on a lazy fly to center.
The Rainbows (14-23, 3-8) threatened in the ninth with one out when Martines and Omori singled to center off Louisiana Tech closer Derek Brewster. The senior right-hander fanned Montgomery on a breaking ball in the dirt and got Wilson to hit a fielder's choice grounder to short to end the game.
"You gotta hit when you gotta hit," said Trapasso. "We did it Saturday, and guess what? We won the game.
"We must have set a record for winning the first game of a series, then not finishing it off."
The series concludes today with a night game that begins at 1 p.m. Hawaii time.
WAC standings
Conference Overall W L Pct. GB W L Pct. Rice 14 1 .933 -- 31 8 .795 San Jose St. 9 6 .600 5 29 12 .707 Fresno St. 8 7 .533 6 20 19 .513 Nevada 4 8 .333 8 1/2 16 19 .457 Hawaii 3 8 .273 9 14 23 .378 LaTech 3 11 .214 10 1/2 16 21 .432 Yesterday
Louisiana Tech 6, Hawaii 5
San Jose State 7, Fresno State 5
Rice 13, Nevada 7
Louisiana Tech 6, Hawaii 5
Hawaii AB R H BI LaTech AB R H BI Nogawa 2b 5 0 2 0 Robinson ss 4 1 2 1 Cook 3b 5 1 2 0 Hall 3b 3 0 1 0 Omori 1b 5 0 2 1 Humphreys dh 3 0 0 0 Guillen pr 0 0 0 0 Cauley 1b 4 0 2 2 Martines 5 1 3 0 Dugdale c 3 1 0 0 Montgomery cf 4 2 2 0 Preaus lf 4 1 2 2 Wilson dh 3 1 1 2 Simmons rf 3 1 1 0 Boudon rf 3 0 0 0 Sabatini cf 3 1 0 0 Gilbride ph/rf 1 0 0 0 Haygood 2b 3 1 0 0 Bock c 4 0 0 0 Totals 30 6 8 5 Russell ss 4 0 2 0 Totals 39 5 14 3 E--Cook (13), Hall (16). DP--Louisiana Tech 1 (Robinson-Haygood-Cauley). LOB--Hawaii 10, Louisiana Tech 9. 2B--Nogawa (11), Montgomery (5), Robinson (7), Hall (10), Preaus (2), Simmons (8). HR--Wilson (2), Preaus (1). SH--Haygood (2). SF--Robinson (2). SB--Robinson (6). CS--Nogawa (2), Hall (3).
Hawaii 021 020 000 -- 5 14 1 Louisiana Tech 021 300 00x -- 6 8 1
Hawaii IP H R ER BB SO Yamashita (L, 2-4) 3 4 6 5 1 0 Pribble 5 4 0 0 2 3 Louisiana Tech IP H R ER BB SO Kirkendall 4 1/2 9 5 5 3 4 Cowles (W, 1-4) 2 3 0 0 0 1 Lacy 2/3 0 0 0 0 0 Brewster (S, 5) 2 2 0 0 0 2 Yamashita faced three batters in the fourth. WP--Pribble (4), Kirkendell (5), Cowles 2 (5). PB--Dugdale (1). HBP--Hall (Yamashita), Dugdale ( Yamashita), Sabatini ( Yamashita), Simmons (Pribble).
Umpires--Home: Jay McKeown, 1st: Chris Mcgouirk, 3rd: Doug Williams.
T--2:34. A--321.
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